156. Equality and Order in the Divine Persons

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Problem of Equality in Divine Persons #

• Whether equality can apply to God when equality is traditionally defined according to quantity
• The need to distinguish between dimensive (physical) quantity and virtual (perfective) quantity
• How the divine persons possess the same nature and perfection, making them equal without quantitative magnitude

Virtual Quantity and Perfection #

• Dimensive quantity (μόλις/molis in Greek, also called “heap”): physical extension in one, two, or three dimensions; found only in bodily things; absent in God
• Virtual quantity: noted according to perfection of form or nature; designated by ‘more’ or ’less’ (e.g., “more hot,” “more sweet”) insofar as something partakes more or less perfectly of a form
• Virtual quantity observed in two ways:
  1. In the root or source: the perfection of the form itself, called spiritual magnitude
  2. In the effects of the form: being and operation

Order in Divine Persons #

• The relationship between the teaching that the Son is equal to the Father and the statement that there is order in God
• Order (ordo naturae) in God means origin or procession from one person to another, not temporal before-and-after
• The distinction between the generic meaning of ‘order’ (before/after in time) and its specific meaning when applied to God (origin)
• Parallel to how other terms are moved from creatures to God: drop the genus, keep the specific difference

Equality Excludes Both More and Less #

• Equality is understood by negation of “more” and “less,” not by positive definition
• Two lines are equal when neither is longer nor shorter than the other
• Equality presupposes distinction (one cannot be equal to oneself)
• Equality includes likeness but adds the exclusion of excess or deficiency

Key Arguments #

Objection 1: Equality Requires Quantity #

Problem: Equality is noted according to unity in quantity (as Aristotle says in Metaphysics V). But God has neither dimensive quantity (no magnitude, place, or time) nor discrete quantity. Therefore equality does not belong to divine persons.

Response:

• Equality applies to virtual quantity (perfection), not dimensive quantity
• Since each divine person is God and possesses the whole divine nature equally, they are equal in perfection
• If one person were more or less than another, one would not be God, and the three would not be one God

Objection 2: Should We Say Likeness Rather Than Equality? #

Problem: Divine persons share one essence signified by way of form (like human nature). Beings coming together in a form achieve likeness, not equality.

Response:

• Equality adds something to likeness: the exclusion of excess on either side
• Things can be like without being equal (e.g., air is like fire in heat but not as perfectly)
• Since the divine nature is equally and perfectly in both Father and Son, we say not only likeness but also equality

Objection 3: Image Language Prevents Mutual Equality #

Problem: Augustine says the image perfectly fulfilling what it is an image of is co-equal to it, but the thing itself is not equal to its image. The Son is the image of the Father, so the Father should not be said equal to the Son.

Response:

• Equality and likeness, when signified as nouns, are mutual in God (each person is like and equal to the other)
• This mutual conversion holds in God but not in creatures
• When signified as verbs, they are not mutual because the Son receives from the Father (thus He is said to be “co-equal” but not the reverse)
• The reciprocity applies because both possess the same divine nature equally

Objection 4: Equality as a Relation Distinct from Personal Relations #

Problem: If equality is a relation, and only the divine nature is common to the three persons, while relations distinguish them, then equality cannot belong to the divine persons.

Response:

• Equality implies both the essence (wherein they communicate) and the relations (whereby they are distinguished)
• Equality is not a real relation distinct from personal relations but rather a relationship of reason based on their shared nature
• Nothing is equal to itself, so equality presupposes personal distinction
• Relations of relations would lead to infinite regress, so equality and likeness are relations of reason only

Important Definitions #

Equality (Aequalitas) #

• Understood by negation of ‘more’ and ’less’ rather than by positive definition
• Presupposes distinction between things compared
• In God: each person possesses the same divine nature and perfection without excess or deficiency

Virtual Quantity (Quantitas Virtualis) #

• Perfection of a form or nature
• Can be considered in the root (spiritual magnitude) or in effects (being and operation)
• Corresponds to intensity or degree of perfection, not to physical size

Dimensive Quantity (Quantitas Dimensiva) #

• Physical extension in one, two, or three dimensions
• Found only in bodily things
• Absent in God and all spiritual realities

Order (Ordo) #

• Generally means before-and-after in the generic sense
• In God specifically means origin or procession from one person to another
• Not order of temporal succession but order of dependence or origin

Ordo Naturae #

• Order of nature in God
• Means “one is from the other” without any sense of temporal before-and-after
• Explicitly not an order of time but an order of origin

Examples & Illustrations #

Heat and Virtual Quantity #

• A thing is “great” in heat by virtue of the intensity and perfection of heat, not by physical quantity
• One fire is greater than another not in bulk but in the intensity of its heat
• Similarly, divine persons are equal not in size but in perfection of nature

The Relation of Fatherhood and Sonship to Power #

• The Father and Son both possess the same divine power
• This power exists in the Father with the relation of fatherhood, in the Son with the relation of sonship
• The power itself is the same; the relations that accompany it distinguish how it is possessed

Large Discourse and Small Talk #

• “Large discourse” (in Shakespeare) does not mean discourse of great physical size but discourse about universal or great matters
• “Small talk” does not mean talk of small physical size but talk about unimportant matters
• Shows how words like “large” and “small” are moved from quantity to quality and other categories

Natures and Numbers (Aristotle) #

• Natures of things are like numbers: man, beast, plant, stone correspond to four, three, two, one
• Man differs from beast by reason; beast differs from plant by sense; plant differs from stone by life
• Just as four minus one equals three, so removing reason from man leaves a beast
• Shows how ‘more’ and ’less’ apply analogously to both quantities and perfections of nature

Augustine on Greater in “To Be” #

• “To be more is to be better” (Melius esse quod meum esse/Quartus melius esse)
• Applied to God: the divine persons are not greater in bulk (mole) but in what they are—in their being and perfection
• A thing is “greater” insofar as it is more perfect in what it is

Notable Quotes #

“The equal is said by negation of more and less.” — Aristotle (cited by Thomas Aquinas)

“In those things which are not great in their bulk, to be more is to be better.” — Augustine, On the Trinity VI

“That difference of deity follows those who either increase or diminish.” — Boethius, commenting on those who distort the Trinity

“No one of them either precedes by eternity, or exceeds in magnitude, or is overcome in power.” — Augustine, cited in response to Article 1

“Equality includes in itself likeness and adds something, because it excludes the excess of one or the other.” — Thomas Aquinas

Questions Addressed #

Can equality belong to the divine persons? #

Answer: Yes. Equality belongs to the divine persons understood according to virtual quantity (perfection of nature), not dimensive quantity. Since each divine person equally and perfectly possesses the divine nature, they must be equal. If one were more or less than another, they would not all be God.

What distinguishes equality from likeness in God? #

Answer: Likeness means sharing the same form; equality adds the exclusion of excess or deficiency. Things can be alike without being equal, but in God, where each person possesses the whole divine nature equally, both likeness and equality apply.

How can the Son be both image of the Father and co-equal to Him? #

Answer: When equality and likeness are expressed as nouns, they are mutual in God because both persons share the same nature. As verbs (expressed as passive constructions), the Son is said to be “co-equal” because He receives the nature from the Father, but this does not make the Father unequal.

Is equality a real relation in God or a relation of reason? #

Answer: Equality is a relation of reason, not a real relation distinct from the personal relations. It presupposes personal distinction (one cannot be equal to oneself) and indicates both the shared divine nature and the real distinctions of persons, but it is not a fourth relation over and above the three personal relations.

How does order exist in God if there is no before and after? #

Answer: Order in God means origin (one person proceeding from another) without temporal or causal priority. When the term ‘order’ is applied to God, the genus (before-and-after) is dropped but the specific difference (origin or procession) is retained. This is analogous to how other terms are moved from creatures to God by dropping the genus and keeping the specific meaning.